EU Transport Council

Wednesday 9th December 2015 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Mr Robert Goodwill)]

I will attend the final Transport Council under the Luxembourg presidency (the presidency), taking place in Brussels, on Thursday 10 December.

The presidency is planning a policy debate on social aspects of road transport ahead of the EU road initiatives that we expect to be published by the Commission in 2016. The debate is likely to focus on whether existing legislation should be clarified in order to reach a uniform interpretation of the rules in all member states, and the challenges in the enforcement of existing rules.

There will be a lunchtime debate on road safety at the request of the presidency. I welcome the opportunity to share expertise and best practice on road safety in the light of the UK’s excellent track record in this area. I look forward to hearing about the work done by EU colleagues to improve road safety among vulnerable road users in other member states.

Under any other business, there will be presentations on:

The state of the energy union by the Commission;

The MH17 crash following a report from the Dutch accident and investigation branch;

An aviation strategy for Europe by the Commission following publication of its aviation package on 7 December;

State of ratification of the Luxembourg protocol to the rail rolling stock convention, which Luxembourg will encourage other member states to ratify;

Nominations to the ICAO Council; and

The Netherlands’ priorities for their presidency which begins on 1 January 2016.

[HCWS370]